in afghanistan. >> and that's not all. take a look at the government checks and electronic payments that went out in the month of june. medicare claims are at the top of the list. they accounted for 100 million checks, 70 million of those to doctors, the rest to other providers, like hospitals and labs. second on the list, the category that you're hearing most about, more than 56 million social security payments were made in june. also in the top five, more than 6 million checks and payments to active duty and retired defense personnel. there's worry that the sheer number of payments going out have dulled lawmakers and agencies in washington to the reality of exactly what the government is spending. >> i don't believe that there really is a realization that this is really real money. one of the basic prerequisites of the government is a payment from the government. there isn't a stop payment capability. it's not like a commercial check that can be stopped. >> that means a government-issued check is as good as cash. if you